目前，在Facebook(Facebook)及其创始人马克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)等公司的推动下，元宇宙正在大肆宣传。这个想法很吸引人，但完全不清楚你应该如何加入元宇宙！
问题在于，所有关于元节的讨论都让它听起来像是你访问或订阅的一个地方，但事实是那里有一大堆元节，而且还会有更多。
元宇宙简而言之
本文假设您已经或多或少知道元节是什么。如果您不这样做并且您有一些时间，请前往我们的什么是元宇宙(What Is the Metaverse )解释器进行深入讨论。如果你赶时间，这里是它的要点。
“元宇宙”得名于尼尔斯蒂芬森的书雪崩(Snow Crash)。这是一个持久的虚拟世界，人们可以在其中以 3D 形式四处走动，看看他们想要的数字化身，购买房产，并且通常生活在虚拟空间中。电影《Ready Player One》也许是对虚拟世界最引人注目的屏幕描述，如果你观看那部电影，它应该全部到位。
既然虚拟现实耳机既好又实惠，像Facebook和微软(Microsoft)这样的公司正在点燃未来互联网的想法，这是一个元世界的集合。
元界硬件要求
虽然元节的概念通常以虚拟现实 (VR)、增强现实(augmented reality)(AR) 和混合现实 (MR) 体验为中心，但这并不意味着进入元节的唯一方法是将头戴设备戴在脸上. 许多元界体验要么不是基于 VR 的，要么让用户可以选择使用 VR 或其他设备，如智能手机、控制台和带有纯平屏幕的笔记本电脑。
在加入元界时，很难就应该投资哪种类型的硬件提供通用建议。更重要的是确定您最有兴趣访问哪些元节，然后根据他们的具体要求做出硬件选择。
话虽如此，在撰写本文时，Oculus Quest 2是任何希望加入元界的人的最佳全能选择。尽管它是一款出色的通用 VR 耳机，但它还是作为 Facebook 元宇宙计划的平台而创建的。如果您出去购买Quest 2，您将拥有大多数即将到来的大牌元宇宙体验和(and )当今可用的最佳 VR 体验的钥匙。
支付（和拥有(Owning)）元宇宙中的东西
元节的主要特点之一是您可以在其中购买和拥有东西。这包括虚拟财产、对象和任何其他在元节中有用的东西。您也有可能接触到真实世界的产品。如果像亚马逊这样的在线零售商最终也在(Don)虚拟(Amazon)世界中开设商店，请不要感到惊讶！
通常，您可以通过两种方式在元节中为某些东西付费。第一种是简单地将现实世界的货币与信用卡、PayPal或我们已经使用的任何其他常见数字支付平台一起使用。二是使用加密货币
加密货币和元宇宙
当涉及到元宇宙时，加密货币和区块链技术特别有趣。这是因为区块链(blockchain)具有从中央服务器购买的数字商品无法比拟的持久性。如果它在区块链中，那么只有当区块链的最后一个副本被销毁时，您拥有特定数字资产的证据才会消失。
NFT(NFTs)（不可替代代币）在元宇宙环境中比在现实世界中更有意义，因为它们可以充当您的虚拟财产的所有权契约。当然，如果给定元宇宙的内容托管和计算能力也不是去中心化的，那么NFT(NFTs)就没有多大意义。
已经有一些视频游戏使用了加密和NFT(NFTs)，例如 Cryptokitties 和Axie Infinity ( AXS )。AXS是一款交易和战斗游戏，还允许购买虚拟财产，它允许用户每 14 天兑现一次他们的加密货币，以便在现实世界中使用。这意味着它本身正在形成一种元节。
继续前进，这可能会改变。尤其是(Especially)像耐克(Nike)这样的公司正准备向您出售虚拟产品！所以也许是时候在比特币(Bitcoin)或以太坊区块(Ethereum)链上打开一个加密钱包并用一点数字现金加载它了。
您今天可以加入的最佳元界平台(Platforms)
元节不是一个地方，尽管有一天所有的元节都可以使用共同的标准和实践相互链接。目前，您必须选择一两个能够提供您想要的体验的元宇宙平台。这里所代表的每个数字世界都有其独特的魅力，并且大多数都是为了让第三方创作者（包括用户）添加自己的内容而构建的。
地平线世界(Horizon Worlds)（Rift S & Quest 2）
Horizon Worlds是目前虚拟世界体验中最知名的。这是 Meta 对Oculus Go(Oculus Go)等低成本 VR 头戴设备和Facebook Spaces、Oculus Rooms和Oculus Venues等前身应用的实验的高潮。
(Horizon Worlds)可以使用Quest 2或Rift S（连接到 PC）访问Horizon Worlds 。它支持 3D 空间中的全运动跟踪，并具有集成的游戏创建系统。从中央广场，用户可以进入门户访问用户创建的世界。Horizon Worlds的天空是无限的，而且由于它仅在 2021 年12 月(December)上旬才向公众发布，你可以打赌它仍然有很多新东西即将推出。
在技术层面上，Decentraland有一些严肃的工作要做。老实说，这有点笨拙，但它也是一个令人着迷的想法集合。超过 50 万人已经注册成为这个虚拟世界的一部分。
Decentraland是一款基于浏览器的游戏，这意味着您无需 VR 耳机即可参与其中。顾名思义，Decentraland是基于加密货币的。(Decentraland)在这种情况下，有问题的货币是MANA，它使用以太坊区块(Ethereum)链。用户可以购买地块，然后使用内置的编辑器系统将其开发成任何他们想要的东西。他们还可以从其他地方导入 3D 模型，因此有很大的创意空间。
拥有一个加密钱包是可选的，但显然，如果你想成为一个创造者并有一个地方来保存你的NFT(NFTs)，你将需要一个。在NFT热潮的高峰期，地块的售价高达 100,000 美元！
Roblox（Windows、macOS、iOS、Android、Xbox One）
Roblox最初是一款创新游戏，在一段时间内一直处于低调。在大受欢迎之后，它成为了类似于今天的Minecraft(Minecraft)的红极一时的游戏，而且它也恰好是一个元宇宙。
Roblox是一款免费游戏，因此它始终准备好迎接充满活力的经济。真正将其提升到元节状态的是Roblox Studio。用户可以使用Studio创建整个游戏(entire games)，然后Roblox的玩家可以玩这些游戏。
个人数字商品也在平台上进行买卖，Roblox 不时(Roblox)举办虚拟活动。至少到目前为止，Roblox没有任何类型的加密货币、代币或区块链技术，而是坚持使用自己的传统非加密“Robux”货币。
沙盒元界(The Sandbox Metaverse)（iOS、Android、Windows 和 macOS）
沙盒(Sandbox)是一款基于区块链的游戏，拥有自己的代币SAND。用户可以购买土地、创建自己的内容、创建整个游戏、购买、出售和探索Sandbox Metaverse中的所有内容。
在撰写本文时，The Sandbox Metaverse处于Alpha阶段，但围绕它进行了大量炒作，Square Enix和软银(Softbank)等公司向该公司投资了数百万美元。虽然在技术层面上一切都还处于未完成状态，但概念是扎实的，早点进入可能是个好主意！
VR 聊天(VR Chat)（Oculus VR、Oculus Quest、SteamVR、Windows 桌面模式(Windows Desktop Mode)）
VRChat是一个以 VR 为中心的虚拟世界，它确实具有用于平板屏幕的桌面模式，但确实需要 VR 硬件才能充分利用它。
在VRChat中，用户可以创建自己的实例世界。这意味着它不是一个开放的持久虚拟世界，而是为玩家和他们的朋友而存在的。
VRChat 在其存在的大部分时间里一直很受欢迎，但是这种流行病使那些正在寻找一种与人们共度时光的方式的用户数量激增，而无需亲自到场。作为新用户，您在信任系统上的评价不够高，无法开始制作自己的内容，但这只是暂时的。坚持(Stick)并遵守规则，你很快就会得到你自己王国的钥匙。
第二人生(Second Life)（Windows 和 macOS）
在“metaverse”这个词成为主流词之前，Second Life已经在做 Metaverse 应该做的一切，除了提供 VR 作为选项。近年来，开发者曾考虑在Second Life中加入 VR 支持，但最终由于 VR 头戴式设备的低普及率而放弃了这个想法。
顾名思义，第二人生(Second Life)是一个人们可以生活、闲逛、体验事物、购买房产、定制空间等等的地方。Second Life中甚至还有官方营业场所，您可以访问客户服务或购买产品。
作为仍然存在的最古老的虚拟世界之一，《第二人生》(Second Life)即将进行一些升级，其创作背后的人们正在努力改进这个虚拟世界，尽管目前这还不包括 VR。
Fortnite（Windows、Switch、PlayStation 4、PlayStation 5、Xbox One、Xbox 系列(Xbox Series)）
Fortnite最初是一款视频游戏，后来成为历史上最受欢迎的免费游戏之一。从那时起，它就不仅仅是一场游戏，人们互相闲逛，而不仅仅是 24/7 互相射击。
Fortnite还成功地涉足了举办音乐会等非游戏活动，随着时间的推移，它变得更像一个社交平台。现在Fortnite推出了派对世界(Party Worlds)，这是对游戏的扩展，正式为人们提供了一个闲逛的地方，创建自己的派对世界，并且通常使游戏成为一个成熟的元宇宙。
Fortnite几乎可以在每个平台上使用，但在可预见的未来，由于与 Apple 的大规模法律斗争(massive legal battle with Apple)，iOS 和 macOS 用户都不走运。
这就是现实的生活吗？
几十年来，我们的数字屏幕一直是摆脱现实生活的无聊或压力的一种方式。人们已经在游戏世界和社交平台上花费了数千小时。他们在那里交朋友，在那里玩得很开心，有时他们的经历也很糟糕。
元宇宙的兴起似乎是我们的技术和社会如何取得进步的自然进展。就像(Just)社交媒体一样，你永远不会被迫进入虚拟世界，但相比之下，我们感觉在虚拟世界之外的生活会感觉有点无聊和孤独。
How to Join the Metaverse
The metaverse іs getting а lot of hype at the moment, driven by companies like Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. The idea is appealing, but it’s not at all clear how you’re supposed to join the metaverse!
The problem is that all this talk of the metaverse makes it sound like a single place you access or subscribe to, but the truth is that there are a whole bunch of metaverses out there, and even more are coming.
The Metaverse in a Nutshell
This article assumes that you already more or less know what the metaverse is. If you don’t and you have some time on your hands, head over to our What Is the Metaverse explainer for an in-depth discussion. If you’re in a hurry, here’s the gist of it.
The “metaverse” gets its name from Neal Stephenson’s book Snow Crash. It’s a persistent virtual world where people can move around in 3D, look how they want as digital avatars, buy property, and generally live in a virtual space. The movie Ready Player One is perhaps the most striking on-screen depiction of a metaverse, and if you watch that film, it should all click into place.
Now that virtual reality headsets are both good and affordable, companies like Facebook and Microsoft are lighting the fire under the idea of a future internet that’s a collection of metaverses.
Metaverse Hardware Requirements
Although the concept of the metaverse is usually centered on virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) experiences, that doesn’t mean the only way to enter the metaverse is by strapping a headset to your face. Many metaverse experiences are either not VR-based or give users the option to use VR or other devices like smartphones, consoles, and laptops with flat screens.
It’s hard to provide universal advice on what type of hardware you should invest in when it comes to joining the metaverse. What’s more important is to pin down which metaverses you’re most interested in visiting, and then make your hardware choices based on their specific requirements.
That being said, at the time of writing the Oculus Quest 2 is the best all-around choice for anyone looking to join the metaverse. Despite being an excellent general VR headset, it was created as a platform for Facebook’s metaverse plans. If you go out and buy a Quest 2, you’ll have the key to most of the big-name metaverse experiences that are coming and the best VR experiences available today.
Paying for (and Owning) Things in the Metaverse
One of the main features of a metaverse is that you can buy and own things within it. That includes virtual property, objects, and anything else that has utility within the metaverse. You’re also likely to have access to real-world products as well. Don’t be surprised if online retailers like Amazon eventually set up shop within a metaverse as well!
In general, there are two ways you can pay for something in a metaverse. The first is to simply use real-world currencies with a credit card, PayPal, or any of the other common digital payment platforms we already use. The second is to use cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency and the Metaverse
Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are especially interesting when it comes to the metaverse. That’s because the blockchain has a level of permanence that digital items bought from a central server can’t match. If it’s in the blockchain, then evidence that you own a specific digital asset only disappears when the last copy of the blockchain is destroyed.
NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) make much more sense in a metaverse context than they do in the real world because they can act as title deeds for your virtual property. Of course, if the content hosting and computing power for a given metaverse aren’t also decentralized, then NFTs don’t mean much.
There are already a few video games that make use of crypto and NFTs, such as Cryptokitties and Axie Infinity (AXS). AXS is a trading and battling game that also allows for the purchase of virtual property, and it lets users cash out their cryptocurrency every 14 days for use in the real world. This means it’s shaping up to be a kind of metaverse itself.
Going ahead, that’s likely to change. Especially since companies like Nike are getting ready to sell you virtual products! So perhaps it’s time to open a crypto wallet on the Bitcoin or Ethereum blockchain and load it with a little digital cash.
The Best Metaverse Platforms You Can Join Today
The metaverse isn’t one place, although one day all metaverses may be linked to each other using common standards and practices. For now, you’ll have to pick the one or two metaverse platforms that offer the sort of experience you want. Each digital world represented here has its own unique charms, and most are built to let third-party creators (including users) add their own content.
Horizon Worlds is the biggest name in metaverse experiences right now. It’s the culmination of Meta’s experiments with low-cost VR headsets like the Oculus Go and precursor applications like Facebook Spaces, Oculus Rooms, and Oculus Venues.
Horizon Worlds can be accessed using a Quest 2 or Rift S (connected to a PC). It supports full motion tracking in 3D space and has an integrated game creation system. From a central plaza, users can enter portals to visit user-created worlds. The sky’s the limit with Horizon Worlds, and since it was only released to the public early in December of 2021, you can bet it’s still got plenty of new stuff coming.
On a technical level, Decentraland has some serious work ahead. It’s a little janky to be honest, but it’s also a fascinating collection of ideas. More than half a million people have already signed up to be part of this virtual world.
Decentraland is a browser-based game, which means that you don’t need a VR headset to be a part of it. Decentraland, as the name suggests, is based on cryptocurrency. In this case, the currency in question is MANA, which uses the Ethereum blockchain. Users can buy parcels of land and then develop it into whatever they want using the built-in editor system. They can also import 3D models from elsewhere, so there’s a lot of scope for creativity.
Having a crypto wallet is optional, but obviously, if you want to be a creator and have a place to keep your NFTs, you’ll need one. During the peak of the NFT craze, plots of land were selling for as much as $100,000!
Roblox (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Xbox One)
Roblox started out as an innovative game that coasted under the radar for quite some time. After exploding in popularity, it’s a smash-hit akin to Minecraft today and it also happens to be a metaverse.
Roblox is a free-to-play game, so it’s always been ready to host a vibrant economy. What really elevates it to metaverse status is Roblox Studio. Users can use Studio to create entire games, which players of Roblox can then play.
Individual digital items are also bought and sold on the platform, and every now and then Roblox hosts virtual events. So far, at least, Roblox is free of any sort of cryptocurrency, token, or blockchain technology, sticking with its own traditional non-crypto “Robux” currency.
The Sandbox is a blockchain-based game with its own token named SAND. Users can buy land, create their own content, create entire games, buy, sell, and explore everything within the Sandbox Metaverse.
At the time of writing The Sandbox Metaverse is in the Alpha stage, but there’s major hype around it with companies like Square Enix and Softbank investing millions of dollars in the company. While everything is still in an unfinished state on a technical level, the concepts are solid, and getting in early is probably a good idea!
VR Chat (Oculus VR, Oculus Quest, SteamVR, Windows Desktop Mode)
VRChat is a VR-centric virtual world that does have a desktop mode for use with flat screens but really demands VR hardware to get the most out of it.
In VRChat, users can create their own instanced worlds. That means it’s not an open persistent virtual world, but one that exists for the player and their friends.
VRChat has been popular for a large part of its existence, but the pandemic turbo-charged the number of users who were looking for a way to spend time with people, without physically being in their presence. As a new user, you don’t rate high enough on the trust system to start making your own content, but that’s only temporary. Stick around and stick to the rules, and you’ll get the keys to your own kingdom soon.
Before the word “metaverse” became a mainstream word, Second Life was already doing everything a metaverse should, except offer VR as an option. In recent years the developers considered adding VR support to Second Life, but ultimately the idea was abandoned thanks to VR headset’s low penetration numbers.
As the name suggests, Second Life is a place where people can live, hang out, experience things, buy property, customize their spaces, and much more. There are even official business premises in Second Life that you can visit for customer service or buy products.
As one of the oldest metaverses that’s still around, Second Life is due for some upgrades, and the people behind its creation are working on an evolution of this virtual world, although for now that still doesn’t include VR.
Fortnite (Windows, Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series)
Fortnite started out as a video game and became one of the most popular free-to-play titles in history. Since then it’s grown into something more than a game, with people hanging out with each other rather than just shooting one another 24/7.
Fortnite has successfully dabbled in hosting non-game events such as concerts as well, becoming more like a social platform as time went by. Now Fortnite has launched Party Worlds, which is an expansion to the game that formally gives people a place to hang out, create their own party worlds, and generally qualifies the game as a full-fledged metaverse.
Fortnite is available on virtually every platform, but for the foreseeable future, iOS and macOS users are out of luck thanks to a massive legal battle with Apple.
Is This the Real Life?
Our digital screens have been a way to escape from the boredom or stresses of real life for decades. People already spend thousands of hours in-game worlds and on social platforms. They make friends there, they have fun there, and sometimes they have bad experiences.
The rise of metaverses seems like a natural progression of how our technology and society makes advancements. Just like social media, you won’t ever be forced to enter a metaverse, but we have a feeling life outside of the metaverse is going to feel a little boring and lonely by comparison.
